Davis Bates
Phoebe Bridgers after starting a new record label, Saddest Factory.
2020 was a shitty year with an incredible soundtrack.
While the pandemic brought festivals and live music to a halt, the music industry got creative. At the same time many of us were learning to bake bread at home, some of the most talented artists turned to innovative new methods of writing, creating and promoting new music. Many of the top albums are also the most surprising, as quarantine pushed musicians to seek new styles and influences. In a particularly challenging year, music didn’t let us down. Here are 10 great albums this bizarre year gave us.
10. The Strokes, The New Abnormal
"The 2010s, whatever the fuck they're called, we took them off," Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas declared during their 2019 New Year's Eve show. "And now we've been unfrozen and we're back."
And what a triumphant return it is. After two substandard releases in 2011's Angles and 2013's Comedown Machine, The New Abnormal embraces a new era for The Strokes in one major way: it's fun again. The New York City group has emerged from their on-and-off hiatus and side projects for an album that's a return to their iconic joyful garage-rock sound, this time leaning heavily into the band's '80s influences. The chorus of second single "Bad Decisions" wears the influence of Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" on its sleeve, while “Eternal Summer” is reminiscent of The Psychedelic Furs’ “The Ghost In You.” Overall, the first half of The New Abnormal shines brighter than the second, which opts for slower ballads that are mostly great lyrically, albeit lacking energy at times. Still, there’s no denying it’s just good to have The Strokes back, and with The New Abnormal, it seems like they’ve finally gotten their groove back.
9. Disclosure, ENERGY
ENERGY is the perfect title for Disclosure’s third studio album, a collection of vibrant dance tracks you can expect to hear once clubs open safely again. Disclosure, a collaboration between brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, brings more variety and a more cohesive sound this time around. Coming five years after 2015’s Caracal, ENERGY finds the English electronic duo dipping their feet in new sounds and global music influences. Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara features on vocals in “Douha,” one of a few tracks influenced by African music. The deluxe edition features “Tondo” — an African-influenced percussive groove with an infectious bass riff — which makes a strong contender for most joyful song of the year. Two interludes across the 11 tracks offer a slower, chilled break from the house beats, adding a crucial balance to ENERGY’s sound. Disclosure can still bring the energy to keep us dancing, even if we’ve traded nightclubs for our living rooms instead.
8. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Reunions
Perhaps no artist can write introspectively about his growth and shortcomings as eloquently as Jason Isbell. Along with his band the 400 Unit, he’s established himself as a prominent figure in the alternative country/Americana music scene due in part to his candor in his songwriting. On Reunions, the fourth album Isbell’s released since becoming sober in 2013, the singer-songwriter examines his own shortcomings and place in the world. Opening track “What've I Done to Help” is Isbell’s existential struggle with his sense of purpose, while “It Gets Easier” is an anthem for sobriety (“It gets easier, but it never gets easy.”). “Dreamsicle” harks back to childhood memories in the summer with the great storytelling Isbell is known for. It’s never as heavy as previous albums like 2017’s The Nashville Sound, but it’s often solemn and empathetic; it’s some of his most polished work yet.
7. Mac Miller, Circles
When a posthumous album is released, it can be near impossible to listen to the music without being conscious of the artist’s untimely loss. Circles was announced by Miller’s family via Twitter for his birthday a little over one year after his death in 2018 from an accidental drug overdose at age 26. Across the 14 tracks, many of Miller’s personal and at times messy lyrics feel heartbreakingly prescient and haunting, covering his inner struggles and his eagerness to continue growing. Serving as a companion album to 2018’s Swimming, Circles feels like Miller reckoning with his inner demons in real time, at times both hopeful for the future and lost in his own head. It’s a testament to how far he’s come as an artist since his early work as a rapper, as he opts for a more experimental style. Standout track “Woods” finds Miller singing behind a relaxed hip-hop beat, whereas “Hands” and “Everybody” are slowed down and groovy. As Miller reckons with his own sense of self, he simultaneously seems to be discovering his potential as a musician. The results are career-best tracks, including “Good News.” If Swimming served as a self-examination of Miller’s life and mental health, then Circles felt like Miller reconciling with his struggles and striving to continue growing and working on himself. It’s a somber record that serves as a fitting coda to the career and life of a truly talented individual.
6. Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud
Molly Matalon
Saint Cloud evokes a cool evening, right as the snow starts to thaw and spring arrives. The lyrics are delicate, painting a scenic picture of nature in bloom. It's Katie Crutchfield's fifth solo album as Waxahatchee, and her first since deciding to get sober. Similar to its springlike ambience, Crutchfield writes about her sobriety with clarity, embracing a new beginning while reflecting gently on past trauma. "Oxbow" kicks off the album as Crutchfield is just entering sobriety, while "Fire" serves as Crutchfield's love letter, offering an apology to herself through the song. Saint Cloud never steers into the indie rock sound on Crutchfield's other albums but settles instead for a simplified Americana sound that's fitting for the Alabama native's southern roots.
5. Taylor Swift, folklore
A major reason folklore ultimately feels so effortless is due in large part to Taylor Swift finally feeling relieved of her usual constraints. No stadium seats to fill. No quota to release pop anthems. With the entire world in quarantine and a canceled world tour, Taylor Swift retreated into isolation and transitioned her focus toward a new sound. The result is a rich 17-track folk/electronic album produced by Aaron Dessner of The National and Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff. folklore is far more intimate than any of Swift’s other projects, giving the singer-songwriter a rare opportunity to flex her songwriting skills. As the title suggests, Swift opts for fables and stories over her often autobiographical songwriting, leading to career-best writing on tracks such as “The Last Great American Dynasty” and “Exile.” Just five months later she released evermore as a companion piece to folklore, and both projects embrace a confident, often beautiful folk sound. folklore is an exercise in slowing things down and finding meaning in the stillness, and it is easily Swift’s most honest work yet.
4. Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Dua Lipa’s sophomore album Future Nostalgia dropped on March 27, a week early — an announcement the rising English popstar made via Instagram in the early days of lockdown. The sophomore album can be the biggest hurdle for emerging artists, especially in the pop world, where a lackluster second release can change an artist’s reputation overnight. Future Nostalgia effortlessly maneuvers any of the sophomore slump pitfalls, resulting in 11 dance-pop tracks of funk and bravado. She exudes a newfound confidence on the album’s best track, “Levitating,” an absolute blast that will almost certainly get you moving. She’s in her element on the disco influenced “Break My Heart,” and the album only falters with final track “Boys Will Be Boys,” a ballad that doesn’t quite fit as well with the more dancey tracks. The album’s dance-pop anthems are all the more convincing because Dua Lipa feels so comfortable and confident on each track. She’s come into her own as a performer and delivered the perfect album to let loose to in this bizarre year.
“I hope it brings you some happiness, and I hope it makes you smile, and I hope it makes you dance,” she said in her album announcement. Safe to say she’s succeeded on all fronts.
3. Run The Jewels, RTJ4
Timothy Saccenti
Killer Mike and El-P are angry. You can feel it across all 11 tracks of fourth studio release RTJ4. When the two MCs are at their angriest, they’re often at their best, dropping lyrically creative attacks on systems of injustice behind bass-heavy beats. As political rap groups go, Run The Jewels has cemented their place at the top of the list next to Public Enemy, and RTJ4 is their most political yet. After four whole years since RTJ3, the power duo dropped their ambitious new album early, right as protests against the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were growing across America. RTJ4 amplifies the messages that have been so prevalent in 2020, especially in anti-capitalism tracks “Pulling the Pin,” featuring Mavis Staples, and “Ooh La La.” Standout track “Walking in the Snow” feels eerily reminiscent of George Floyd’s death, as Killer Mike calls out apathetic reactions to police killings: “And you so numb, you watch the cops choke out a man like me…The most you give’s a Twitter rant and call it a tragedy.” RTJ4 is the duo at their most aggressive, braggadocious and creative yet; for better or worse, it’s the most relevant album of 2020.
2. The Weeknd, After Hours
A pulsing synth kicks in right around the two-minute mark on “Alone Again,” the opening track from The Weeknd’s newest album, After Hours, accentuating the singer’s signature falsetto. The synths add a fresh sound and extra bravado on After Hours, a collection of darker, moodier '80s-inspired anthems. As he sings moody and often vulnerable lyrics from track to track, The Weeknd — whose real name is Abel Tesfaye — has never felt more comfortable, especially on “Save Your Tears.” The singer shines brightest on chart-topper “Blinding Lights” and the title track, which are propulsive and energetic. It’s the balance between The Weeknd’s R&B crooning and the futuristic synthpop backbeat that makes After Hours his most exciting and ambitious work to date. Tesfaye has been tapped to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show in February, and After Hours is as persuasive an argument as any that he’s more than earned the coveted slot.
1. Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
Let it be known that 2020 was the year of Phoebe Bridgers’ meteoric rise. The singer-songwriter spent the year starting a new clothing line, performing stunning renditions of her music on late night TV, and dropping Punisher — her masterful second studio album. Since her 2017 debut Stranger in the Alps, Bridgers has released albums for two side projects — boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center — and cemented her place in the modern indie rock scene, where she’s honed her writing skills on new album Punisher. Bridgers is at the sharpest she’s ever sounded on the record, exploring death, depression, complex relationships and the apocalypse. She established her style early on; her lyrics can be both tragic and witty at once, often playful explorations of life’s darker issues. Bridgers has a knack for making life’s big moments seem mundane and the minute events seem profound. On the album’s most upbeat track, “Kyoto,” Bridgers’ personal life catches up to her on tour in Japan, but she still takes time to marvel at the small details (“They still got payphones, It costs a dollar a minute”).
The album’s best track is grand finale “I Know The End,” which starts as an indie folk track about leaving home and slowly builds to an apocalyptic climax in the second half. Lightning crashes, fires burn, and Bridgers drives deeper into a dystopian America as she calmly accepts “the end is near.” The track spirals into a cacophonous conclusion with Bridgers screaming, drowned out by her own sound. A song about the end of the world unsurprisingly hits a bit different in a year like 2020, but, like everything else on Punisher, Bridgers identifies the beauty in the chaos and crises all around us.
